Blocking mu-opioid receptors inhibits social bonding in rituals

Sarah Jane Charles; Miguel Farias; Valerie van Mulukom; A Saraswati; Fraser Watts; Simon Dein; Robin Dunbar

doi:10.1098/rsbl.2020.0485

Blocking mu-opioid receptors inhibits social bonding in rituals

Sarah Jane Charles, Miguel Farias, Valerie van Mulukom, A Saraswati, Fraser Watts, Simon Dein, Robin Dunbar

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

23 Citations (Scopus)

67 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Religious rituals are universal human practices that play a seminal role in community bonding. In two experiments, we tested the role of mu-opioids as the active factor fostering social bonding. We used a mu-opioid blocker (naltrexone) in two double-blind studies of rituals from different religious traditions. We found the same effect across both studies, with naltrexone leading to significantly lower social bonding compared with placebo. These studies suggest that mu-opioids play a significant role in experiences of social bonding within ritual contexts.

Original language	English
Article number	20200485
Number of pages	5
Journal	Biology Letters
Volume	16
Issue number	10
Early online date	14 Oct 2020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0485
Publication status	Published - 28 Oct 2020

Bibliographical note

© 2020 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.

Keywords

mu-opioids
naltrexone
ritual
ritual bonding
social bonding

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous)
Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)

Access to Document

10.1098/rsbl.2020.0485

Post-PrintFinal published version, 773 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Blocking mu-opioid receptors inhibits social bonding in rituals",

abstract = "Religious rituals are universal human practices that play a seminal role in community bonding. In two experiments, we tested the role of mu-opioids as the active factor fostering social bonding. We used a mu-opioid blocker (naltrexone) in two double-blind studies of rituals from different religious traditions. We found the same effect across both studies, with naltrexone leading to significantly lower social bonding compared with placebo. These studies suggest that mu-opioids play a significant role in experiences of social bonding within ritual contexts.",

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AU - Dein, Simon

AU - Dunbar, Robin

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Blocking mu-opioid receptors inhibits social bonding in rituals

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

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Interview with Mariella Frostrup on Times Radio re: Opioids and Religious Ritual

Cite this

Blocking mu-opioid receptors inhibits social bonding in rituals

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Press/Media

Going to church? It’s just like taking drugs

Going to shul has same effect on brain as opioids, study suggests

Interview with Mariella Frostrup on Times Radio re: Opioids and Religious Ritual

Cite this